"Before "Scandal," I was actually cast in two other pilots. Both went to series, but I was fired and recast. For both it was because they wanted me to sound more 'girlfriend, more like 'hood,' more 'urban."

“I definitely feel like I’m at that point where it’s nice to not have to sit at home and wait to be invited to the party, but to be creating work for yourself,” Washington said.

The Shonda Rhimes' political drama which recently aired its season five finale, will return in 2017.

ABC announced that the show will premiere season six mid-season 2017. The change comes right after the news that the 39-year-old Kerry Washington is expecting her second child with husband Nnamdi Asomugha.

In "Scandal," the actress plays crisis management expert who works with politicians and power brokers in Washington DC.